CTBUH 2013 Best Tall Building, Middle East & Africa: Sowwah Square by Goettsch Partners

In our previous post, we published the four regional winners of the Best Tall Building prize conferred annually by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Winner of the award for the Middle East & Africa region is the five-building Sowwah Square complex in Abu Dhabi designed by Chicago architecture firm Goettsch Partners and developed by Mubadala Real Estate & Infrastructure. Sowwah Square is located on Al Maryah Island and defines the new downtown anchor for Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, the emirate’s long-term urban framework plan.

The project now competes with the other three regional winners for the 2013 Best Tall Building Worldwide, to be awarded in November.

“We are very pleased to see Sowwah Square recognized at such a high international level,” said James Goettsch, FAIA, chairman and CEO of GP. “The CTBUH has done a great job to recognize a wide range of achievements in tall buildings that can provide lessons worldwide. We are humbled to have one of our projects associated with this distinguished group.”

Project Description from the Architects:

Comprising four office towers and the headquarters building for the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the complex strives to create a signature image for downtown while also promoting a public presence and emphasizing sustainability. The initial building program heights were relatively modest, and their combined footprint occupied a majority of the site.

In order to provide a more distinguished skyline profile and relieve the streetscape, the buildings were raised 27 meters. The resulting design frames slender pairs of 31- and 37-story towers around a stock exchange building that sits on distinctive piers.

At plaza level, the buildings sparingly touch the site, and indoor and outdoor spaces seamlessly blend to create a large, landscaped, pedestrian-friendly environment. In addition, the complex integrates a two-level, 33,000-square-meter high-end shopping center and structured parking for 5,000 cars.

The project emphasized a sustainable design approach throughout. Select initiatives include ventilated, double-skin facades; active and passive solar shading; and active lighting controls that balance natural and artificial light. As a result, the complex became the first in Abu Dhabi to be pre-certified LEED-CS Gold.